Photos: A visit to Ottawa

The last time I went to Ottawa was back in 2003. Back in 2003, my idea of a good beer was Kokanee and Labatt Blue.. so as you probably know, I've changed a bit since then.

So on this day, my buddy over at Hop Citizen and I did a day trip over to Ottawa, with a stop in Vankleek Hill along the way to see the folks over at Beau's (blog entry here).

So, while in Ottawa the main goal was to visit a few breweries, go for a bite to eat, visit a super fancy LCBO and meet up with my buddy Ryan who I haven't seen in three years - Ryan used to be a staple as part of my Québec/Montreal bièrcations back in the day.

First stop in Ottawa was at Dominion City Brewing! The brewery was a bit hard to find as it wasn't right along the street, rather in the back of a warehouse.. but we found it anyways!

Dominion City tasting room. Liked the cozy vibe it gave off, it was a bit reminiscent to me of Winnipeg's Barn Hammer Brewing's taproom to an extent

Love the open concept look.. even if it's a bit warm from the brewery setup.

"Fermentorium: A centre for the Zymurgical Arts". Just stay away from those geese.

This leafy green display with the brewery logo really popped out at me.

Once you're done at Dominion City Brewing, there's always soccer to be played next door.

Next off, we checked out Beyond the Pale Brewing. My buddy Ryan introduced me to their beer three years ago and raved about how hipster it was - they brewed most of the week and were only open for growler fills something like only two days a week. He sold me on their product easily as they made absolutely amazing beers. The sign at the brewery has their old address of 5 Hamilton Ave N while they are now located at 250 City Centre Ave.

Unfortunately Beyond the Pale's new taproom wasn't open yet when we got there but we still were able to have a blast. I loved the decor of the brewery sales room.

While the taproom isn't open - they still served 12oz pours of all of their canned products. Unfortunately that means a wastage of 4oz. Aromatheropy deserves a full 16oz treatment.

Frigo

PAS UN FRIGO

Swag!

The various can labels Beyond the Pale has used over the years

Massive donut and donut hole at Art is in Bakery located right next door to Beyond the Pale. It took me a whole day and half to eat this thing as it was insanely dense and filling.

Steve at Beau's was wanting us to stay for lunch earlier that day, but Hop Citizen was singing praise all about Nando's Portuguese Chicken.. to the point that he could've started up a conga line. I wasn't impressed, the portion for 1/4 chicken was minimal at best, minimal amount of fries but the seasoning on the chicken was so so good. I wish I took a photo of his portion of fries, he definitely won the french fry lottery.

Our last brewery for the day trip was Tooth and Nail Brewing.

At this point.. Ryan is wondering when we were going to hurry the eff up and meet up with him downtown for dinner! Well, beer takes time!

We finally met up with Ryan at the LCBO on Bank Street, right across the street from TD Place (home of the Red Blacks). One thing I loved about the LCBO here was how spacious it was, as well as that their growler bar was really fancy and served liberal samples in actual glassware rather than plastic cups. The staff was friendly and really knowledgeable. The clerk we spoke with during both of our visits even opened up an already prepared growler from the fridge to give us all a sample of Sawdust City Brewing's Twin Pines IIPA which was absolutely heavenly!

One awesome thing about the LCBO on Bank Street was that most of their beer was stored in a massive walk-in fridge, but honestly.. I wasn't impressed with the selection because 90% of the beers I saw there I've had before or they will be available through MLCC soon enough. It was awesome to see a taste of Manitoba-ish at the LCBO with Kenora's Lake of the Woods Brewing (LOWBREWCO) though.

Final photo of the trip.. Manitoba-ish LOWBREWCO!

Remember to like BeerCrank.ca's Facebook page and follow me on Twitter!